Newspaper to Receive New Life at Saratoga Springs High

Who says journalism is dead? Jill Cowburn, a teacher at the Saratoga Springs High School, certainly doesn't believe this is true, and come fall semester, she will be leading a group of young students to learn all about the art of journalism.

Cowburn recently "graduated" from an intense 12-week program at Reynolds High School Journalism Institute, hosted by Kent State University in Ohio.

The program was highly competitive, this year being the most since its inception in 2001. Cowburn was one of 165 selected out of a pool of nearly 500 applicants.

During the program, the former New York Times television company documentary-maker and producer brushed up on her critical reading, writing, and reporting from 8am-8pm.

After these daily classes, the teacher still had homework to face. She was required to write a news story every night.

Now, Cowburn wants to take the skills she has learned in her experience and introduce a new journalism program to SSHS.

Already, 63 students have expressed interest and pre-registered for the three sections of Introduction to Journalism that Cowburn will be teaching.

She will also revive the high school newspaper as the new adviser for the open-to-everyone club. SSHS has had a newspaper before, but there have been a few years in the gap.

For now, the newspaper will be published only online because of printing costs. However, each student taking the class and contributing to the paper will learn valuable skills, Cowburn is confident, whether or not they go on to become journalists.

But who knows - maybe one of these students will end up working for Coffee News the Saratogian or here at Saratoga.com! Is there a Deepak Chopra, David Foster Wallace, or Anderson Cooper waiting to spring from these courses?

For more information, contact (518) 587-6690.

What do you think of including a journalism program at Saratoga Springs High School? Do you think the school newspaper will see success? Let us know your thoughts!